‘Was this some kind of joke?’ This thought had come to a lot of people’s mind as soon as they heard Quinn say those words. The ones in the crowd, the leaders and so on. He was nothing but a vampire noble, but they had to admit, he was a strangely powerful one. But most of his strength could be explained away by the fact that he was a punisher.
If he was a punisher under the guidance of Arthur that they had just seen, then maybe a lot of them would have understood. But Quinn specifically said he wasn’t a punisher.
Arthur who was standing by his side was even more intrigued. ‘The tenth leader huh, wasn’t it that crazy guy during my time if I remember correctly? What happened to him? He wasn’t one to have given up his place too easily. No, he cared about the people too much.’ Arthur thought, but he was thinking more than just that.
Now he was starting to wonder where Quinn had even got the shadow power from.
“You’re Crazy!” Bryce shouted as he started to lift himself off the floor. He had recovered to the point where he could now stand, but he was in no condition to fight at all. Maybe even Quinn was able to take him out the way he was.
“I don’t know why you know so much about our current affairs for an outsider, but if you think you can just lie your way out of this, and save your friends, then think again. There is no way you are the tenth leader.” Bryce said.
The other leaders too felt like it was a bit far fetched, even the ones that were on the punishers side, but then Muka thought about something, the tenth tower. For a brief second the first time in years it had lit up. Indicating the leader had returned.
Just as Muka had this thought, Edward was there to confirm it. “That boy speaks the truth.” He said barely lifting himself up on one knee. “Vincent had passed down the tenth seat to that boy. You know how crazy he was, he would be crazy enough to do something like this.”
“You remember when the tower lit up not too long ago. It was reacting to the boy’s presence.”
If someone else had made these claims, they would perhaps think they were lying or on the punisher boys’ side for some reason, but the fact it had come from Edward had made it seem more trustworthy.
Edward was completely Loyal to the tenth seat, he always had been. Many of the leaders there had tried to get him to come over to their side, but he would always refuse. To them in the first place, it didn’t make much sense for him to stick his neck out to save Lee’s son, Fex.
Now, if the boy had some type of relation with Fex, and really was the tenth leader, Edward’s involvement matched the circumstances. It was simple, Edward would not follow anything unless it was an order from Vincent.
“Vincent, huh? He certainly would have done something like this.” The king mumbled to himself.
“Wait, you’re not actually believing them, are you?” Jill complained. “He even brought humans to this establishment. And what about the direct descendants that were killed? Should we just forget that it was most likely that punisher boy right there as well?”
Quinn had a feeling that his earlier actions could have quite possibly sabotaged him in the future, and it seemed like it was doing so now. Although it wasn’t really him who had killed them but the Bone Claw.
“This matter seems to be more complicated than I first thought.” The king said. “I think it’s best if we first deal with all the injured and the blood dome. The vampires have witnessed enough and everyone is tired, I’m sure. After that, the first call of action will be to test if what this boy says is true or not, and there are more ways than one to see if he really is the tenth leader like he says he is. Based on that, we will then move forward and give everyone that was involved in this affair an appropriate punishment.”
The king had a rational thought. Before they should make a decision, they needed to get all the facts straight first. The blood dome was taken down, and the people were free to go, but many of them before leaving stayed for a moment.
The smell had attracted them. Both Logan, Erin and Vorden were still bleeding slightly and the smell was attracting their nose. Arthur made a note as he saw this.
“I shall be taking the boy and his companions with me.” Arthur said. “I have questions of my own that need to be answered. You can trust me to not runaway with them or do anything stupid. When you need us, just come and fetch us.”
“And where will you be staying?” The royal knight next to the king asked.
“Isn’t it obvious, I’m going back to the fourteenth castle.” Arthur replied
Gathering all of Quinn’s friends, they stood next to Arthur. Vorden was able to place Borden over his shoulder in a lying down position on his belly. He was still sleeping peacefully away even with all the movement. While the others each held on to each other, with two people holding onto Arthur.
But they weren’t the only ones that were going with them, for Silver and Fex had joined the group as well.
“Are you going to let the criminals go as well?” Bryce asked, looking at the king for answers.
“Bryce, you don’t understand. Now that the punisher has returned, then the decision and trial would go over to them in the first place.” The king replied.
All of them holding on tightly, Arthurs shadow dropped to the floor covering the area the group was in.
“Shadow travel.”
Activating his skills, they all started to sink into the shadows, until they were no longer seen, but the pool of shadow was still there. Suddenly, it started to move away, going through and past everything, with its destination in sight. The fourteenth castle.
‘The king is still treating them just like before… Does he not even remember why we had the war in the first place . This fool. When I become king. I will change all of this.” Bryce said clenching his fist so hard, that the wooden part of his cane he was holding in his hand, broke.
Traveling at a fast speed, the group had no clue what was going on outside. To them they were in a black space, where they could feel acceleration but at the same time could see nothing.
What Quinn was happy about though, was seeing a bunch of shadow skills he had yet to unlock. If he saw more, it would give him a good idea of which ones to unlock first.
With Shadow travel, they were practically able to go through anything traveling only on the floor. They could go direct, the shortest and fastest way to the castle. Eventually, they had finally arrived, and the group stopped. Each one of them popped up out of the shadow and could see the large castle in front of them.
Compared to the others, and the tenths, it looked a lot more menacing and it was larger too, but just like the tenths, there was no upkeep of the castle and there was no light source either. But it was larger than the others only a little bit smaller than the king’s castle.
Just like the others, Arthur went to the door, and started to spin the circular lock, putting in the combination. A clicking sound was heard and the door started to open. He soon stepped in and Quinn thought the lights would turn on, just like it had done with him but there was no such thing.
“Is he not the leader of this castle?’ Quinn thought. ‘Based on his strength I was sure he was the leader of the punishers fourteenth family. System do you know who he is?’
“I do, but during my time he had gone into eternal slumber. Never to be woken up unless needed. Then shortly after something had happened but I had left before this and only heard about what had happened. So I have no clue why the fourteenth castle is empty either. Only that it is.”
Walking in Logan had passed something to the humans of a group, a small light source to be used. It was a little crystal that allowed for a warm glow to surround them. As for the vampires, this was not needed, they could see everything fine.
“Do you need one Leo?” Peter asked as he was going around.
“Did you forget?” Leo replied.
“Oh right, you’re a vampire now, sorry.”
But Leo continued to shake his head in disbelief. Even though he was a vampire, even before he could not use the light source to see anyway.
Walking around they could see large paintings of vampires wearing the same red and black armour. Some of them looked identical to the one Arthur wore. While others were a bit more fancier in design.
The castle was so large, it was impossible for it all to be used for one person, and the paintings on the walls often showed many punishers. While following Arthur around they were mostly quiet, but Quinn’s curiosity had gotten to him this time. Having this shadow power, he felt like he needed to know more about it. But Fex had beaten him to the punch.
“What happened to the punishers?” Fex asked. “The Adults, they never told us much, but if you were so strong and the rule upholders. Why did you leave?”
“I suppose while I walk around, I can tell you my story.” Arthur replied. “About how the Vampires and the punishers split.”
*****
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